The 2018 Mid-American Conference football season will be the 73rd season for the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC). and is part of the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 149th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

. The season will begin on August 30 and will end on November 24. The entire schedule was released on February 22. The

MAC Championship Game The MAC Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). History The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into div ...

will be held on November 30, 2018.

Previous season

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

won the East Division with a 6–2 conference record while

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

won the West Division with a 7–1 conference record. Toledo defeated Akron in the

MAC Championship game The MAC Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). History The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into div ...

Preseason

Preseason poll

The MAC Preseason Media Poll was released at the MAC Media Day on July 24, 2018 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

East

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

''(21)'' #

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

''(1)'' #

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

''(2)'' #

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

West

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

''(15)'' #

''(7)'' #

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

''(1)'' #

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

''(1)'' #

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

''(first place votes)''

MAC Championship

Ohio received 13 votes as the predicted 2018 MAC Championship Game winner. Toledo (5), Northern Illinois (4), Miami (1), and Central Michigan (1) also received votes.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On November 22, 2018, one day after

's final game of the season against

, the school fired head coach Paul Haynes after five losing seasons. On December 19, the school hired Sean Lewis as head coach.

Coaches

''Notes:'' * All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. * Records are through the beginning of the 2018 season only.

Schedule

Regular season

Week One

Akron at Nebraska was canceled following a three-hour delay for lightning and thunderstorms. Players of the week:

Week Two

Players of the week:

Week Three

Players of the week:

Week Four

Players of the week:

Week Five

Players of the week:

Week Six

Players of the week:

Week Seven

Players of the week:

Week Eight

Players of the week:

Week Nine

Players of the week:

Week Ten

Players of the week:

Week Eleven

Players of the week:

Week Twelve

Players of the week:

Week Thirteen

Players of the week:ANNOUNCES WEEK THIRTEEN FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
http://getsomemaction.com (2018-11-26). Retrieved on 2018-11-28.

Week Fourteen

This game was added after Akron's game vs Nebraska was canceled due to lightning and South Carolina's game vs Marshall was canceled due to

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third hurri ...

MAC Championship Game

Postseason

Postseason awards

*Offensive Player of the Year:

Tyree Jackson Tyree Jackson (born November 7, 1997) is an American professional football tight end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a quarterback for the Buffalo Bulls and was signed as an undra ...

, QB, Buffalo *Defensive Player of the Year:

Sutton Smith Sutton Smith (born March 22, 1996) is an American former professional football fullback. He played college football for the Northern Illinois Huskies, mainly as a linebacker. Early life Smith played running back for Francis Howell High School i ...

, DE, Northern Illinois *Special Teams Player of the Year:

Diontae Johnson Diontae Lamarcus Johnson (born July 5, 1996) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Toledo Rockets and was selected by the Pittsbu ...

, KR/PR, Toledo *Coach of the Year:

Lance Leipold Lance Leipold ( ; born May 6, 1964) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2021. He was the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater fr ...

, Buffalo *Freshman of the Year:

Jaret Patterson Jaret Patterson (born December 23, 1998) is an American professional football running back for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Buffalo Bulls before signing with the Washington Co ...

, RB, Buffalo *Vern Smith Leadership Award:

, DE, Northern Illinois

All-Conference Teams

Bowl games

Home game attendance

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018 Mid-American Conference football season